Trump Dodges the Bullet as the Race for the Ballot Thickens -By Godfrey Madanhire

Former President, Donald Trump becomes yet another American President to survive an assassination attempt. In 1835, the hero of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson cheated death because two pistols misfired in the hands of Richard Lawrence. Theodore Roosevelt lived the rest of his life with a bullet still tucked in his body because of an attempt at his life in 1912. A series of 5 shots missed President elect, Franklin Roosevelt while on the campaign trail in 1933. Gerald Ford survived the callous act on two occasions in 1975 and 1981. This is not a proud history for a country arguably known as the biggest democracy.

While former President Trump was left with a bleeding ear, his predecessors in Abraham Lincoln, William Mckinley and John F Kennedy could not make it. Just like January 6th, July 13th becomes another dark day in a Nation with a reputation of upholding high values and a template of democratic principles. On January 6th 2021 at the “ Save America” rally, President Trump shouted, “ We will stop the steal, We will never give up, We will not concede!”. On the 13th of July 2024, he asked the Secret Service officials who were protecting him to stop so he could shout, “Fight, fight, fight!”. The crowd went berserk and demonstrated their undying spirit. It appears, they remain resolute in their quest to send him back to the White House. It is interesting to see how an attempt on the life of former President Trump affects the polls in the days and weeks that lie ahead. The scales have been tilting in favour of the 45th President of America especially after the dismal performance by President Joe Biden in the first Presidential debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27th 2024. The incumbent has gone on to generously provide content for social media enthusiasts through memes inspired by his latest gaffes where he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Trump” and the sixth President of Ukraine, Volodymr Oleksandrovych Zelensky as “Putin”.

It can be argued that President Trump is likely to benefit from this unfortunate ordeal as the election campaign slowly moves away from bread-and-butter issues to theatrics. The previous election centred around pertinent issues such as migration with President Trump being very vocal about the need to build a wall. The same cannot be said about the current contest which has seen President Trump moving from the courtroom to the rally. This event might however turn the tables and distract the citizenry from focusing on President Trump’s battles with the law. It stands to reason that his fund- raising efforts will now rake in millions of dollars. The electorate tend to exercise a sympathetic vote in the world of politics. Very often, we have seen voters electing to support the weak, the targeted and victimised. The Polokwane Conference of the African National Congress held in 2007 saw President Jacob Zuma defeat his predecessor Thabo Mbeki by 2339 votes to 1505. This was his rise from the ashes after being asked to step down as a Vice President. The general voting population at this conference thought he was a victim and rewarded him with the most invaluable ticket in South Africa. In November 2017, the controversial political firebrand in Zimbabwean politics, President Mugabe fired his deputy and forced him to skip the country movie style. The general citizenry and the National Army chose to sympathise with the man nicknamed Crocodile, took to the streets and toppled Mugabe. In a surprise twist, President Mnangagwa replaced him in the office. Students of Sociology will be familiar with Gayatru Chakavorty Spivak’s essay titled, “Can the subaltern Speak” where she explored the challenges faced by the silenced and marginalised. If President Donald Trump is silenced by the system then this might be his way of speaking.

Reports from Biden-Harris campaign indicate that President Biden has instructed his team to swiftly pull down and pause all outbound communication and television adverts as a way of showing respect to President Trump and an attempt to avoid promoting hate, divisions and violence. This is a noble gesture! Some conspiracy theorists, however, feel the whole assassination attempt was staged arguing that they just cannot put it past President Trump who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, television category. It was not a surprise to see the word “Staged” trending on X a few hours after the incident. Antonio Parkinson, a Tennessee State Democratic representative since 2011 tweeted, “I certainly hope this is not a staged act.” It will be difficult to substantiate such a theory especially when we consider that one person in the crowd unfortunately lost their life as well as the alleged assassin. Elon Musk tweeted, “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.” It is a battle of interpretations as the world seeks to unpack the significance of this sad event.

Whether the event turns out to be a golden opportunity for President Trump to return to the Oval office or not, the Democrats and Republicans need to unite for the sake of over 340 million people who salute the American flag and sing the, “Star- Spangled Banner.”

Godfrey Madanhire- PanAfricanist, Social Commentator,
Broadcaster, Masters in Sociology Candidate-Sol plaatje University.